There is at least one suicide every 40 seconds around the world – WHO

Intro

At least 800,000 people commit suicide each year more than those killed by war and homicide or breast cancer, the World Health Organization said Monday, urging action to avert the tragedies.

In a fresh report, the UN health agency said that the global suicide rate had fallen somewhat between 2010 and 2016, but the number of deaths has remained stable because of a growing global population.

“Despite progress, one person still dies every 40 seconds from suicide,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement, insisting that “every death is a tragedy for family, friends and colleagues.”

The global suicide rate in 2016 – the last year for which data was available – stood at 10.5 per 100,000 people.